Wick and container combinations designed to allow controlled evaporation of a volatile liquid are well known in the art. Most such combinations are intended to disperse a fragrant, deodorizing disinfecting, or even insecticidal, compound, into the atmosphere. Recent examples of this type include: U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,768 to Lhoste et al., "Device for Diffusing Volatile Liquids," discloses a fluid reservoir having a neck into which a wick fits in such a way that the wick is partially immersed in the liquid and extends beyond the mouth of the container. The device has a snap-on vented cover cup. U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,928 to O,Neill, "Air Freshener Dispenser," discloses a somewhat similar combination having, in addition to the wick, an emanator pad connected to the non-immersed portion of the wick, and a rotatable cover member. Rotation of the cover opens and closes the ventilation slits. In devices like these, the liquid in the container is always in contact with the wick. Even in a device like that of O'Neill, although most of the evaporation can be prevented by closure of the ventilating slits of the cover, volatile liquid still saturates the wick. The closure of the ventilating slits only retards further evaporation from the wick or emanator surface. A mechanism that actually seals off the volatile liquid reservoir when no evaporation is desired is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,840 to Nigro, "Dispersant Container and Dispenser." The container of this invention is formed with a threaded conical projection on the interior of a first apertured bottom portion of the container over which a second container shell portion, which actually holds the liquid, fits. Relative motion of the two portions opens and closes a channel between the projection and the opening of the second container shell allowing the liquid to reach (or be closed off from) a wicking material which lies along the interior surface of the first container portion. In any device intended in some manner to treat the ambient airspace, it is an advantage to have a device that is both attractive, since such devices are frequently placed in visible locations, and easily refillable. The ease of refill should be of two kinds: the refillable portion should be easy to remove and it should be refillable with little or no user contact with the contents which are usually of a concentration making direct contact somewhat unpleasant. In addition, such a device should have a mechanism by which the evaporation of the volatile liquid can be, by a sealing off of the liquid reservoir, prevented. No wick and container type evaporation device of the prior art combines all these advantages.
The present invention is a wick and container type evaporation device which has an outer, attractive container, an inner easily removeable and self-contained refill, and a means for alternately activating and deactivating the device. The advantages of the present invention over the prior art arise from the fact that when the outer container is closed, the inner reservoir is also closed in a leak-proof manner. When the outer container is opened up, a hooking mechanism engages and pulls the wick up out of the reservoir and opens up an air channel which allows sufficient air to enter the reservoir to allow the contents of the reservoir to travel up the wick by capillary action and ultimately evaporate from an emanator pad at the top of the wick. The outer container may be reclosed, again resealing off the reservoir and preventing further evaporation or possible leakage (which might occur if such a device were invented and lacked the closure means of the present invention).